Page 96 of Dark ’N’ Deadly

“So are ours.” Dayne’s eyes narrowed in understanding.

“I’ll bet my last bullet that conference is at the Excelsior.” Eric whipped out his cell phone. “The hotel is enormous. There are over a thousand rooms in the place.”

“Which means,” Matt added, “there could be over a thousand victims.”

“Stand by.” Eric did the quickest internet search he’d done in his life. Within seconds he confirmed his suspicion. “The Excelsior is hosting an annual conference for federal and state auditors from all over the country.” Jesus, it would be a government massacre, with who knew how many civilians taken down, too. “Dayne, can you—”

“I’m on it.” Dayne already had his cell phone in his hand.

Eric didn’t need to ask to know whom Dayne would call first. His FBI SAC and the Newark police chief. After that, Dayne’s calls would kick-start emergency notifications to the ATF, JTTF, state police, and every other law enforcement agency in the state, including every available bomb squad.

Again, he knelt by Nichols. “How’s the bomb getting to the hotel?”

“Tractor trailer.”

“Damn,” Matt said. “It’s that big?”

“Yeah.” The man nodded emphatically. “It’s that big.”

“Are they parking it on the street next to the hotel?” Eric asked.

Nichols shook his head. “They’re driving it right under the hotel into the loading bay.”

“Is Gant with the bomb now?”

“Yeah. He’s the only one who knows how to hook it up. He said it would be too unstable to drive it when it was already wired, so he’s doing it on site after the truck is in place.”

“Is it on a timer, or will he detonate remotely?”

“I don’t know.”

Sirens wailed outside.

“Kade,” Eric said. “You’d better go topside, so the PD doesn’t come down here, guns blazing.”

“On it.” Kade and Tango headed upstairs.

Eric looked pointedly at each of his friends. “As soon as the locals get here, we need to roll.”

“You got a picture of this guy, Gant?” Nick asked.

He pulled up an old photo, one he’d taken during surveillance after his friends had been killed. “There’s no driver license on record for him. The only photo we have is this one, but it was taken from a distance.” He group-texted the grainy image to his friends, then sent another text to RAC Verrone.

“Who else besides you and these goons,” Matt said, looking first at Nichols then at where Pritchard and Russo lay cuffed on the floor, “knows what Gant looks like?”

Nick jerked his thumb toward Pritchard and Russo. “Those two won’t help.”

Footsteps pounded down the stairs. Kade and Tango came first, followed by four uniforms from the Flemington PD and the same number of paramedics. They quickly apprised the medics and uniformed officers of the situation.

“Do us a favor,” Eric said, addressing one of the cops he knew, “secure these guys in your lockup for now. With what’s about to go down in Newark, there’s no way you’ll get anywhere close to the Marshal’s office.”

“Roger that.” They hauled Pritchard and Russo from the floor and marched them past the dead guy and up the stairs.

With his guard duty over, Tiger trotted to Eric’s side. Tess and one of the medics helped Jesse onto a gurney. Two other paramedics got to work on Nichols.

“How does he look?” Eric asked the medic who removed the wad of paper towels Nichols had been holding over his wounds. As soon as the towel on his shoulder was removed, a small river of blood dribbled down Nichols’s shirt.

“Not that great.” The paramedic began packing the wound with gauze. “He still might bleed out if we don’t get him to the ER fast.”